[Congressional Record: May 4, 2009 (House)]
[Page H5065-H5068]
GUANTANAMO BAY'S UYGHUR DETAINEES
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) for 5 minutes.
Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, it is my understanding that President
Obama's decision regarding the release into the U.S. of a number of
Uyghur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 could be imminent.
The New York Times, ABC News and other news outlets have reported
that the President will soon release these terrorists into the United
States, yet this Congress has not been briefed on this decision.
Let me be clear, these terrorists would not be held in prisons, but
they would be released into your neighborhoods. They should not be
released into the United States. Do Members realize who these people
are?
There have been published reports that the Uyghurs were members of
the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, a designated terrorist
organization affiliated with al Qaeda.
Releasing the Uyghurs is a matter of grave concern, a matter which
prompted me to send a letter to the President last Friday detailing my
reservations about any course of action that could pose a threat to the
American people.
In my letter I called on the President to declassify all information
about the capture and detention of the Uyghur detainees, including a
threat assessment for each detainee who would be released in the U.S.
The American people, Madam Speaker, deserve the facts about these
detainees and the risk they potentially pose to our communities.
Following the precedent that the administration set in declassifying
the Office of Legal Counsel interrogation memos, they have a moral
obligation to the American people to declassify all relevant
information related to the Uyghur detainees.
This administration has already shown that it has no qualms about
releasing selected classified documents. The White House cannot just
pick and choose what classified information it deems worthy of
releasing. It cannot have it both ways. It shouldn't release
information that conveniently makes their case without making
information with profound national security implications available to
the American people.
After learning that this decision was imminent, I requested briefings
from a number of relevant agencies, but all the agencies have told me
that our Department of Justice is now preventing them from speaking to
me directly on this issue. So much for being open. So much for
disclosure.
Is the Attorney General preventing agencies from answering Members'
questions? Is this a political decision being made by Eric Holder, the
Attorney General?
This is not the transparency and accountability the President
promised, nor is it the open and constructive relationship they claim
they want with Congress. This is, at best, a poor judgment and, at
worst, a dangerous hypocrisy.
Is the administration intent on keeping Congress and the American
people in the dark about critically important national security issues?
Madam Speaker, I have criticized both Republican and Democratic
administrations for actions that I believe undermine the safety and the
security of the American people.
I have not received responses to two letters to Attorney General
Holder on the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners. The first letter
was dated March 13. The second letter was dated April 23. And I will
submit them for the Record. They still have not answered the letters.
My office has been told by the White House that some of the questions I
have asked cannot even be answered.
When Attorney General Holder appeared before the Commerce-Justice-
Science appropriations subcommittee, he poignantly said he would not
play hide and seek with the information. What are they now trying to
hide from the American people?
The Attorney General is slow-rolling the information as terrorist
detainees are potentially going to be released into the United States.
According to an L.A. Times article published last week, ``The
Homeland Security Department has registered concerns about the plan,''
among other government agencies.
[[Page H5066]]
Information I have received indicates that the Uyghurs may be more
dangerous than the public has been led to believe.
Just last night, 60 Minutes had a disturbing segment which touched on
the radicalization of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. The story indicated
that in Saudi Arabia alone, of 117 men returned from Guantanamo, 11
have shown up again on Saudi Arabia's most wanted terrorist list.
Any intelligence assessment of the Uyghurs must take into account not
only their previous training at terrorist camps but their potential
subsequent exposure to the likes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the
mastermind of 9/11 who took pleasure in the beheading of Wall Street
Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
I say to this administration, the American people have a right to
know all the facts, and I fear personally that expediency is clouding
their judgment, which is inexcusable after we saw what took place on 9/
11.
The stakes are simply too high for this administration to reasonably
think that the American people should simply take their word that these
men pose no security threats. I call on the Obama administration to
declassify and release all the information that they have available so
the American people can make a judgment.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, May 1, 2009.
Hon. Barack H. Obama,
President, the White House,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: It is my understanding that your
decision regarding whether to release a number of Chinese
Uyghur detainees held at Guantanamo Bay into the United
States is imminent. I have grave concerns about this action,
which I believe could directly threaten the security of the
American people.
Information I have received indicates that the Uyghurs may
be more dangerous than the public has been led to believe. I
write today asking that you declassify all intelligence
regarding their capture, detention, and your administration's
assessment of the threat they may pose to Americans, prior to
any decision to release them. The American people deserve to
have all the facts about these individuals before they should
be expected to tolerate their presence in our communities.
I believe your administration also has an obligation to
explain to the American people how you will monitor the
Uyghurs' activities should they be released in the U.S.
Additionally, all state and local law enforcement should
immediately be notified of your intended decision, provided a
threat assessment of the released Uyghurs, and informed of
the federal government's plans to monitor their activities
once released.
Following the precedent you have set in declassifying the
Office of Legal Counsel interrogation memos, you have a moral
obligation to declassify this critical information. The
American people cannot afford to simply take your word that
these detainees, who were captured training in terrorist
camps, are not a threat if released into our communities.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf,
Member of Congress.
____
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, April 23, 2009.
Hon. Eric H. Holder, Jr.,
Attorney General, Department of Justice,
Washington, DC.
Dear Attorney General Holder: My letter of March 13
indicated my concerns about bringing enemy combatants from
the detention facility at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
to the United States. I understand that the president has
given you the task of determining the release, transfer or
prosecution of these detainees. I noted your recent comments
on how this is the most challenging aspect of your job as
attorney general and I respect the difficulty of your
position.
But as I have learned more about these detainees and
received additional information from terrorism experts, I
remain extremely concerned that transferring these combatants
to locations near large civilian populations would place an
overwhelming burden on the court system and endanger public
safety.
The detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay are some of
the most dangerous individuals in the world who have openly
dedicated their lives to killing Americans. Kahlid Sheik
Mohammed was the architect of the 9/11 attacks and took
pleasure in beheading Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel
Pearl. Ramzi Binalshibh was identified as one of the planners
of 9/11 and was supposed to be one of the hijackers until he
was denied entry into the United States. Walid bin Attash is
believed to be the mastermind behind the bombing of the
U.S.S. Cole in Yemen in 2000. These individuals are
responsible for planning the deaths of thousands of
Americans.
Guantanamo Bay also houses combatants who were detained
after actively trying to kill U.S. troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan. From news reports I have read, it appears
consideration is being given to allow these detainees rights
that go beyond protections offered U.S. military personnel by
the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Giving such rights to
the men listed above greatly concerns me.
Earlier trials of terrorists in the U.S. demonstrated the
necessity for extraordinary security resources that would be
needed if some of those at Guantanamo are transferred here.
Newsday and the Buffalo News reported that during the 1995
trial in New York of Omar Abdel Rahman, the mastermind of the
1993 World Trade Center bombing, terrorist confederates of El
Sayyid Nosair, another World Trade Center bombing planner,
were plotting to break him out of Attica State Prison in New
York. In the same case, court tapes show that conspirators
provided each other assurance that, in the event that some
were captured, the others would work to free them. In
addition, during the 2000 trial of Mahmud Salim, one of the
terrorists accused of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in
Kenya, he stabbed New York prison guard Louis Pepe in the eye
during an escape attempt. Al Qaeda saw the rights given to
its members to meet with counsel as an opportunity to carry
out a violent escape attempt. Mr. Salim was one of the
original followers of Osama bin Laden and the highest ranking
al Qaeda member held in the U.S. at the time.
In addition to trying to escape from prison, al Qaeda
members have communicated with confederates while in prison.
It is my understanding that El Sayyid Nosair was involved in
plotting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing while in custody
in Attica State Prison. In addition, Osama bin Laden has
publicly credited Sheik Abdel Rahman with issuing the
``fatwa'' that approved the 9/11 attacks while he was in
federal prison, despite the high security confinement
conditions imposed on him. It also emerged later that, with
the assistance of his lawyer, Rahman was continuing to send
instructional messages to the Islamic Group, his Egyptian
terrorist organization.
In 2004, NBC News reported that, despite their
incarceration in maximum security conditions, convicted World
Trade Center bombers were communicating by mail with
terrorists in Madrid, Spain. There would certainly be strong
reasons to believe that detainees currently held at
Guantanamo Bay--who are known to have rioted and grossly
abused prison guards--would use their access to counsel and
investigators in order to convey messages to their allies.
It took federal prosecutors eight years in the 1990s to try
29 defendants charged with terrorism-related crimes as a
result of attacks on U.S. property and interests abroad. The
detention facility at Guantanamo Bay currently holds almost
10 times that number. If it took eight years to prosecute 29
individuals, how long will it take to transfer and prosecute
over 200?
How is the Justice Department responding to the fact that
prosecutors, judges, and juries in recent terrorism trials,
and their families, have required government protection
measures, sometimes for many years, at great cost in manpower
and to our security budget? Has the Justice Department
estimated the cost of providing enhanced personal security
for trials yet to come?
I am also concerned about the extra costs that will be
incurred in preparing prisons and courthouses for possible
trials. I understand that the courthouses in which prior
terrorism cases were litigated and the prisons where
defendants were held had to be ``hardened'' to accommodate
terrorism prosecutions and the attendant threats they entail
for participants and the public. Can you provide me with what
the cost was for these upgrades? Has the Justice Department
considered what the cost will be for upgrading facilities for
detainees who may be transferred to the civilian court
system.
I am also concerned about the precedent that the standards
set in Boumediene v. Bush, the Supreme Court case regarding
al Qaeda operative Lakhdar Boumediene, which granted habeas
corpus rights to Guantanamo detainees, would set for future
cases. In his dissent in this case, Justice Antonin Scalia
raised the issue that if enemy combatants currently housed at
Guantanamo Bay are given habeas corpus rights, the same
rights would have to be given to any combatant detained where
the U.S. military conducts operations. Recently, Justice
Scalia's admonition has proved prescient as a federal judge
in Washington ruled that Boumediene's grant of habeas corpus
rights now extends to Afghanistan.
The process in deciding where the detainees will ultimately
be housed and under what means they will be tried should be
transparent so the American people know who is making these
important decisions. I believe that the Justice Department
should meet with those who lost loved ones in the 9/11
attacks as well as the families of service members who have
died in Iraq and Afghanistan and ask for their perspective on
the fate of these detainees, especially those who played a
lead role in carrying out the attacks.
If you are convinced these combatants must be transferred
to the United States, I believe an isolated part of the
country away from population centers would be a better
choice. As your department continues to consider plans for
these combatants, I ask that you please address these issues
as well as the questions I asked in my earlier letter. I also
have these additional questions:
1. The trial of Zacharias Moussaoui in Alexandria,
Virginia, lasted over four years due
[[Page H5067]]
primarily to the judge's belief that the due process
standards applicable in civilian trials required more
disclosure than the Justice Department believed was required
and safe to provide. I understand any appeal to the 4th
Circuit Court could take up to an additional year per trial.
Considering that a federal appeals court in New York just
recently decided an appeal in the embassy bombing case--more
than a decade after the attack and eight years after the
trial--how long does your department envision civilian legal
proceedings for Guantanamo detainees taking?
2. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mohammed al Qatani and Ramzi
Binalshibh have been linked directly to the September 11,
2001, attacks and appear far more culpable than Zacharias
Moussaoui. Will the Justice Department seek the death penalty
for detainees such as them? If so, does the Justice
Department think seeking the death penalty would lengthen
each trial, and, if so, for how long?
3. Will the defense attorneys for these combatants be given
access to classified evidence that would inevitably lead to
legal challenge and possible consideration by the Supreme
Court, adding more time to trials?
4. If terror suspects are brought into the civilian system
for trial and they insist on representing themselves, would
the Justice Department allow them access to all discovery,
including classified national defense information?
5. Will defense attorneys be allowed discovery on all such
evidence and be allowed to challenge its admission in court?
Would this require allowing defense attorneys to enter combat
zones to view evidence?
6. Will U.S. service members who collected evidence on the
battlefield be forced to leave their duties in theater and
return to the United States to give testimony in open court?
7. Will military personnel be required to have training on
how to legally obtain evidence and preserve the chain of
command needed to make such evidence admissible in court?
8. Will every combatant be given full legal rights and will
these rights also be given to combatants detained in the
future?
9. The system of military tribunals for these combatants
was designed to avoid the difficulties inherent in civilian
trials. If the military is trusted to run a system of justice
good enough for members of our armed forces, why is it deemed
insufficiently fair for these detainees who have openly
stated they are ``terrorists to the bone?''
10. If these combatants are transferred to the U.S. Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, how will the trials of
other defendants in that court be affected?
11. If regular defense attorneys are not allowed to meet
with clients at the jail facility in Alexandria due to
increased security associated with these combatants, is the
Justice Department concerned that those cases could be
delayed to the point where those defendants have grounds for
appeal?
12. The Moussaoui trial took a heavy toll on the
prosecution team and I would be concerned that extended
trials for numerous combatants could overwhelm the legal
staffs. Do you have a plan for addressing how prosecution
teams will work?
13. Are you concerned about the safety of the legal staff
and the jurors who are assigned to these cases and have steps
been taken to ensure their safety and the safety of their
families?
14. Has the Justice Department considered establishing a
separate court similar to the FISA court where judges would
be assigned these cases on a rotating basis?
15. Has the Justice Department considered consulting with
military experts, U.S. Marshals and other law enforcement
officials before determining the safest place to house these
detainees?
16. Have you consulted with the families of the victims of
9/11 as well as the families of the service members killed in
Iraq and Afghanistan as to how these detainees should be
prosecuted? If not, will you direct your staff to do so?
17. Will the Justice Department provide the Appropriations
Committee with the costs for the security measures
necessitated by the terrorism cases of the 1990s and the
Moussaoui case?
18. The Congress has received your FY 2009 supplemental
request, seeking $47 million for some ongoing DOJ activities.
But the majority of the funding, $36.4 million, is for
activities related to the closure of the Guantanamo detention
facility. Can you tell the Appropriations Committee what
exactly the department is doing related to Guantanamo, and
what you are proposing to do in the future with the requested
supplemental funding?
19. I understand that you have created three task forces to
implement the executive orders regarding Guantanamo Bay. How
many individual detainee cases must be reviewed and disposed
of?
20. Can you provide a list of possible outcomes from these
task forces, such as transferring detainees to their home
countries or detaining them indefinitely without trial?
21. For any detainees released to third countries, what
assurances are you seeking from those governments in order to
minimize the risks of recidivism?
22. You have stated that the issues related to closing
Guantanamo Bay represent your biggest challenge. If the task
forces conclude that the risks associated with civilian
trials in the United States are too dangerous and costly,
will you recommend to the president that the closure of the
detention facility be delayed?
23. Beyond the supplemental request, what other post-
Guantanamo requirements will there be?
I realize that your department has numerous issues to
address before Guantanamo Bay is closed and all the
combatants housed there moved. As the Justice Department
continues to consider the disposition of these combatants, I
think it is important for Congress to play an active role. As
my previous letter stated, I take Congress's oversight role
seriously and believe that Congress must be consulted before
any of these combatants are moved to the continental U.S.
Thank you for your service.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf,
Member of Congress.
____
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 13, 2009.
Hon. Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General, Department of Justice,
Washington DC.
Dear Attorney General Holder: President Obama recently
issued an executive order to close the detention facility at
Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and decisions must now be
made regarding how and where to house the 250 suspected
terrorists and enemy combatants held there.
I was particularly concerned to read in the March 7
Washington Post that some of these detainees may be tried in
and housed by the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia (Eastern District of Virginia)
or the United States District Court for the Southern District
of New York. Their presence so close to large civilian
population centers raises serious questions of security and
logistics for any region forced to accept these detainees.
I do not--and would not--support the transfer of any
prisoners presently being detained at Guantanamo Bay to any
facilities in Virginia and have joined Virginia colleagues
Reps. Randy Forbes and Eric Cantor in introducing legislation
(H.R. 1186) to prohibit prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay
detention facility from being transferred to federal prisons
or military bases in Virginia.
I take seriously the responsibility of congressional
oversight, especially in matters with national security
implications. In 1998 I authored legislation that created the
National Commission on Terrorism. Unfortunately, it took the
horrific events of September 11, 2001, for the
recommendations of the commission to be taken seriously. I
have traveled to Sudan five times and seen evidence of the
terrorist training camps used by Osama bin Laden in the
1990s.
The first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 was
treated as a routine criminal case by the Clinton
administration when there were clear indications from Sheik
Omar Abdel-Rahman that terrorism was the intent of the
bombing.
Furthermore, the individuals currently at Guantanamo Bay
are members of the same organization that bombed the U.S.
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania as well as the USS Cole in
Yemen.
The March 11 Washington Post detailed how a detainee
recently released from Guantanamo Bay is now the operations
commander of Taliban forces attacking U.S. and NATO forces in
southern Afghanistan. There also have been news reports that
61 of the detainees that were processed and released from
Guantanamo Bay were recaptured fighting American forces. If
those individuals were deemed safe to release from custody
yet returned to terrorist activities and killing Americans,
what does that say about how dangerous the detainees still at
Guantanamo Bay must be?
I was also troubled to read that five Guantanamo detainees
described themselves as ``terrorists to the bone,'' and
stated in a court filing that they describe their role in the
9/11 attacks as ``a badge of honor.'' These dangerous
individuals simply cannot be transferred anywhere near large
civilian populations.
As the ranking member on the House Appropriations Commerce-
Justice-Science Subcommittee, I am particularly concerned
about the complexities of bringing any of these enemy
combatants to any installation, military or civilian, close
to U.S. civilian populations. Regardless of where these
detainees are confined, I would appreciate your detailed
response to the following questions:
1. What steps has the Justice Department taken to assure
the security of the surrounding population if such violent
combatants are confined and tried in urban areas?
2. What precautions will be taken to ensure that the
detainees do not escape?
3. Is the Obama administration concerned that the presence
of these detainees will invite attacks from ideological
followers in an attempt to set them free and, if so, what
precautions are being taken to prevent this scenario?
4. How will the detainees be transported to the
courthouses?
5. What type of security cordon will be in place if
detainees are transported on local highways?
6. Has the Justice Department considered the traffic
disruptions associated with road closures around federal
courthouses and local jails during the trials of these
individuals?
7. If the detainees are flown to any location, will they
use military or commercial airports?
8. If commercial airports are used, will terminals have to
be evacuated to ensure security?
[[Page H5068]]
9. What will be the security perimeter around federal
courthouses and will local residents and businesses be forced
to move or close to ensure security? If so, for how long?
10. Will Metrorail stations in close proximity to the U.S.
Courthouse in Alexandria be closed?
11. Will the Westin Hotel, approximately 200 feet from the
courthouse, and the Patent and Trademark Office,
approximately 250 feet from the courthouse be evacuated?
12. Has the Justice Department considered the impact such
detainees will have on local prisons, such as the city jail
in Alexandria, where federal defendants are often held during
trial?
13. Will prisoners in local jails have to be moved to
provide a secure location for housing these combatants, and,
if so, who will bear the costs associated with their
transfer?
14. Will there be an extensive list of rules and
regulations given to local and state officials regarding the
housing and trial of these suspects? If so, will a copy of
the regulations be made available to state and local
officials as well as members of Congress?
15. Will state and local law enforcement officers be
required to assist federal officials and will the federal
government compensate those agencies for the use of those
officers' time?
16. What costs will be associated with the trial and what
portion, if any, will be borne by state and local
governments?
17. Has the Justice Department consulted with the Defense
Department regarding its ability or willingness to house
these detainees?
18. Do a set of protocols for transferring and housing
these individuals exist, and, if so, will you make it
available to members of Congress?
19. What discussions regarding these detainees, if any,
have administration officials had with the commanders of the
Naval Station Brig in Norfolk, Virginia; the Marine Corps
Base at Quantico, Virginia, or any other military
instillation in the contiguous United States, Alaska or
Hawaii?
20. Has the administration or the Department of Defense had
any discussions with Naval commanders regarding the
possibility of transferring detainees to U.S. Naval vessels
either in U.S. territorial or international waters?
21. Has the administration had any discussions with the
warden of the Administrative Maximum prison facility in
Florence, Colorado, regarding the difficulties surrounding
the housing of Zacharias Moussaoui and how other prisons
might be affected by housing similar detainees?
22. Has the administration had discussions with any of the
detainees' country of origin regarding their willingness to
accept custody?
While I understand that the Eastern District of Virginia
and the Southern District of New York have successfully held
the only trials to date of terror suspects, I remain
extremely concerned that adequate thought has not been given
to the extensive security, financial and logistical costs
associated with the transfer of any of these individuals to
civilian court districts. State and local officials, as well
as the citizens of northern Virginia, will face many
challenges and dangers with these combatants housed in the
Eastern District of Virginia.
I look forward to receiving your responses to these
concerns. Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf,
Member of Congress.
____________________
[Congressional Record: May 4, 2009 (House)]
[Page H5069]
RELEASING TERRORISTS FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, the Members of this institution ought to know
that this administration and the Justice Department may be very close
to releasing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, the Uyghurs, out into the
public, out around the country. And we are calling on the Justice
Department to release any of the memos with regard to who these people
are on individual cases. If they were members of a terrorist group, I
believe the American people need to know.
This administration and Justice selectively released memos but will
not tell the full story. So I urge all Members, unless you want them,
these Uyghurs, terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, to move to your
neighborhood, ask Attorney General Eric Holder, release all this
classified information so the American people can know what we are
about ready to face.
____________________